He had let himself into her home in Leigh, Greater Manchester, uninvited in the middle of the night and she awoke to find him raping her from behind.

"She froze and no words were exchanged. He pulled up his shorts and left," said Harry Pepper, prosecuting.

"He was arrested and interviewed and said he had been drinking heavily, taken cocaine and ecstasy and could not recall the incident," he added.

His barrister, Virginia Hayton, said that he still cannot recall the attack but when told about it he said that the woman "would not lie, she tells the truth. If she says I have done it, I have done it."

Jailing Thomas for five years and four months, Judge Mark Brown said he had committed "this dreadful offence" while she lay asleep, having taken a sleeping tablet, and left her distressed and anxious.

His test results are due Friday, but in the meantime, he was sentenced to five years and four months of prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.